His Excellency's trip to the ulu Baram - October 1956.

NOTE - I arrived at Lio Matoh (100 islands) first, travelling up the Baram by my boat. Lio Matoh is the limit of navigable water, and I started a Nomadic Penan trade meeting and H.E. the Governor, Sir Anthony Abell arrived next day by air.

Nomadic Penans (some with blowpipes) are on the high cliff of Tanah Balo Mountain. View towards Tama Abu Range and, verticaly down below) the distant view of the Baram River and Lio Matoh Fort. The man wearing a hat is a Kenyah.View of the Fort. Note upstairs has a wooden grid all around to discourage birds though it makes the interior too dark for good photography. The old outside toilet and a new superior one being built for H.E.

The airstrip is across the Baram River from the Fort. It ends at one end at the top of a vertical cliff above the river while the other end is obstructed by a high jungle covered hill. I was taken up in an Auster belonging to the Australian Borneo Evangelical Mission. Aerial view of the Baram, the Mission airstrip, B.E.M. buildings and the neighbouring longhouse with its adjacent rice barns.

The airstrip again. Arrival of the Private Secretary (Reg Pole-Evans) to the Governor talking to the pilot, an Australian missionary. The Auster. Penans, now used to planes though they have never seen a bicycle or car.
Penan trade meeting upstairs in the Fort. Senior Native Officer Wan Hashim) a Malay) supervising fair play by recording the value of the goods brought in by each Penan, mostly damar (a resin used for varnishes and lacquers), and jelutong chicle for chewing gum) and also the value of the goods brought in by the traders (cloth, beads, etc) to be sold to the Penans.

Government outboard going across to the airstrip decorated for this occasion. View from the airstrip to the Fort. The small shelter with a corrugated roof and the neighbouring hovel are the 'Airport Office and waiting room'! Note hill approach by the Auster and the plane stopping just short of the cliff before taxiing back. 

Self going to the plane followed by the Paramount Chief, Temonggong Oyong Lawai Jau in pink shirt and hat. Female missionary. Penans in newly bought cloth and beads going to shake hands with H.E. 

A Kenyah in brown trilby. Kelabit Upriver Agent (Berauk) and friend approach from the airport 'waiting room'. Kelabit Penghulu Lawai BEM (with medals) and a Malay with black 'songkok' on his head. Penans cooking their hill sago on the edge of the airstrip.

In the Fort compound a Penan girl. H.E. decides to photograph a Kenyah policeman suitably dressed for the occasion next to the new loo. This dancing requires great muscular control. Olga arrives. The Penans put on their rather weak imitation of a Kenyah dance. 

The people of Kenyah Nyamok longhouse at Long Tungan on the river bank waving farewell. The girls have blacked H.E's face with pot black mixed with oil so that he won't forget them. H.E. takes his revenge assisted by the Temonggong and P.S. by pushing the girls into the river. Girls processing and chanting. H.E. stops at a shingle beach to clean up. A Government House Malay servant (Kifli). I had been pushed into the river hence my soaking clothes.

Girls at ?Long Selaan. Note tattooing on arms. Old man comes to greet his friend the Temonggong. Farewell to Long Selaan with staff carrying H.E's presents of mats. I attempt to transfer black from my face to the girls, who then attack me from behind. More cleaning on a shingle beach.

Governor's flag on the boat. H.E. and the Temonggong recovering from the entertainment. Leaving Long Palai.

About Ian Urquhart

Ian Urquhart was a decorated British soldier, posted to Sarawak, where he served from 1947 to 1965. A brilliant linguist with an abiding interest in learning about other people and their cultures, he was a natural fit to be a civil service officer.

In addition to his administrative duties, he studied the indigenous communities he encountered focusing on their varied languages. From 1951 to 1959, Ian published several articles published by the Sarawak Museum Journal.

It was during this period that he conducted many trips into the jungles of Sarawak, in particular the Kelabit highlands and the Ulu Baram. From 1957 his wife Bunty accompanied him and contributed to some of the filming. 

It was these trips that he documented on Silent Standard/Regular 8mm colour and b/w cinefilm leaving his family and the people of Sarawak with not only a detailed account of his life there, he annotated all 30 reels, 23 of which are available in this collection.